Enhanced stability of photo-induced anisotropy due to intermolecular interactions in an azo-prepolymer confined in block copolymer

Many efforts in the field of azobenzene-containing polymers are concentrated on exploring new material concepts to obtain efficient and stable photo-induced anisotropy. Here, an easy approach to improve the birefringent properties of an epoxy-based azo-prepolymer is reported. The designed azo-prepol...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Fernández Salvador, Raquel, Etxeberria Altuna, Haritz, Eceiza Mendiguren, María Aranzazu, Tercjak Sliwinska, Agnieszka
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2013
País:España
Institución:Universidad del País Vasco
Repositorio:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
OAI Identifier:oai:addi.ehu.eus:10810/65400
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10810/65400
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:azobenzene
birefringence
block copolymers
epoxy
Hydrogen bonding
Descripción
Sumario:Many efforts in the field of azobenzene-containing polymers are concentrated on exploring new material concepts to obtain efficient and stable photo-induced anisotropy. Here, an easy approach to improve the birefringent properties of an epoxy-based azo-prepolymer is reported. The designed azo-prepolymer was selectively confined in a self-assembled domain of a block copolymer and thanks to the formation of hydrogen bonds a major enhancement of its optical response was achieved. In particular, the resulting material presented double the maximum level of optical anisotropy of the neat azo-prepolymer and nearly 80% of remaining birefringence.